Check the technique...

also found this fabby tag on Paula's blog....

1) What technique would you consider to be your "trade mark" (what do you do most?)
Definately inking edges...of everything! A couple of peeps asked me recently how to ink edges so here's the answer... I don't know :) I can however tell you what I do....


1). Obtain some ink pads - I use the tiny cube ones in black and brown.
2). Leave said inkpads in reach of a 2 yr old
3). Go and do some cl**ning
4). Come back and find 2 yr old 'inked up'
5.) Mutter grrr and other such words under breath
6). Take photo of 2 yr old for future amusement
7). Clean up mess. (including 2 yr old)


Actually the only things that I suggest is to use two colours as they blend, blot the inkpad on to kitchen towel or the like so that you do not get a heavy covering of ink and don't think too much when running the inkpad around the edges of your creations... random is good :)

2) Which technique(s) do you wish you could do/do better?
Ah easy... Stamping. I am pants :) It would maybe help if a). I had more than a couple of stamps to experiment with (that includes the mounted one that Jared pulled to pieces and remounted on his forehead...) and b). I had some decent inkpads that weren't chewed up from inking edges (see above).

3) What are your 4 favourite embellishments?
Flowers; silk ('speshly Poundland ones cos they is cheap :) and paper ones too like Angel Kisses, Brads, Ribbon (mmmm I love ribbon, it is warm) and Buttons.

4) What are your 3 favourite gadgets?
Corner Rounder, Sizzix Machine and Sewing tracer wheel thingy as it helps me make my sewing all neat and tidy...

5a) What do you like to do but haven't done in a while?
I know that Debbie said this too... make toppers, I have been making 'whole' cards recently but sometimes it is fun to create a little piece of art to sit on a card....also haven't done any tidying of craft area in a while but I don't like to do that ;)

5b) And what have you done recently & forgot how much you enjoyed?
Not recently but I love making Christmas bits and pieces, there are so many different embellishments that can be used and made, it is so fab that you can get away with making Christmassy things for around half the year and when June comes around, it gets exciting all over again...

Halloween

Lol found this on Paula's blog....

Your Unique Costume is a Cockroach

Truly creepy!

What Totally Unique Halloween Costume Should You Wear?

Ich liebe deine Sandalen...

Browsing blogs (as you do!) I found this one. It reminded me of band camp (yes I went to band camp, and no, it wasn't like that!!!)... in Germany. When we stayed there it was circa 1990 and sandals were hot - or so the inhabitants of the town that we stayed in thought but then The Hoff was also in the charts there at the time - whoa! *does doubletake*‡


‡ I would have added his current one but this one is far better (or worse depending upon which way you choose to decide...)

Maybe it is us that is behind the times :) I like sandals, and scarily when I manage to track down my size in pink crocs plan on wearing them during the winter months with socks... but at the time, I guess they were not and children being children amused ourselves by yelling 'Ich liebe deine Sandalen' at every unsuspecting wearer of afore mentioned foot covering... I digress.

I was in awe of this blog, there are so many different varieties of sandal and all so amazing. I don't think that I will ever be a convert (someone would need to surgically enhance my feet first) but it is a fab blog and thought that I would share :)

Kitchen....

Is the theme of this week's dare set by Jane.....

'You can do anything ! yep.....anything..... as long as it incorporates something from your kitchen............? !! '

So here goes...

'Bean' Missing You...

Basic Grey Colour Me Silly papers.

Greeting printed onto greaseproof paper- and stitched onto card - fonts are 2Peas Garden Girl, Cafe Rojo and Digs My Heart.

Stitched Nescafe label onto red cardstock and adhered to card.

Hand drew flowers and stems, cut out and doodled onto them. Buttons are from a charity shop (I think!) and ribbon is from Little Silver Hat

Chipboard photo corner is Scenic Route and coffee bean was cut out from a label and Glossy Accented to make it super shiny :)

Christmas Tags....

Tags cut from American Crafts Christmas papers

Strips and rectangles of contrasting paper adhered to tags.

All tags have been hand stitched and inked.

The Christmas trees are from Paperchase, ribbon is from a market stall :)

The first tag has a tag from some spring onions and a printed greeting adhered to it.

The second tag has a brad layered onto a tap washer (!)

The third has a bottle cap that Josh kindly squished for me in my Sizzix machine and punched circles added to create a greeting.

This week's dare was fantastic fun to do - if a little brain taxing :) All of the other amazing cards are now on the Daring Cardmakers blog ... Have fun, can't wait to see what you all create :)

The Interview

Found this fab clip of my friend Jim being interviewed...

Jim's Interview

Went to Bath yesterday to search for some pink crocs but they did not have my size :( The boys stayed at Nanny and Grandad's the night before so picked them up on the way back. Jared is poorly and finished his day by being sick in his cot... he is not too bad now but very quiet which is most unlike him.

I've been humming this all day
sooo annoying, if you haven't seen Anchorman - don't bother... The only funny thing that makes me chuckle is the inane way in which Jim and Jase can watch it for the 35th time and still laugh. Out loud. Enjoy.

The response that we have had to the Dares blog has been absolutely amazing. Thank you all so much for the fab comments, mentioning us and joining in! The new dare goes live tomorrow and you will love it :)

Fright Night

Josh attended his first school disco last week....
The theme was Hallowe'en (obviously) lol... A good time was had by all 'cept me trying to scrub the face paints off afterwards, I think that his eyebrows have been stained black for life....

Elsewhere... I have been trying to make cards for this weeks challenge for Daring Cardmakers. If you have not yet had a go at this weeks... What ya waiting for !!
Jase made me a fantastic banner for the top of my blog, watched Torchwood last night - how fab was that? and Jared has learnt another 'interesting' word - 'Loser' complete with 'L' shaped hand gestures.... lol.

I'm so excited!!!

Our new blog is live !!!

DARING CARDMAKERS!

Jane had an amazing idea... and so a new challenge blog has been launched for cardmakers and I am so proud to have been asked to be one of the design team members....

We have a fantastic team of cardmakers from the UK and NZ to inspire and excite you.

The first challenge 'friends' was posted at 10 am this morning - so come on in and join in the fun :)

Friends 'til the end

3 Bugs in a Rug paper - Tickled Pink, Spotty paper from Paperchase, Bazzil Card, Handcut and Sizzix Doodleblock letters, Angel Kisses and Poundland (!) Flowers, Hand Stitching, Ribbon and Button from stash, lots of Inking....

Basic Grey Sublime paper, Handmade Chipboard Sun and Heart, Fonts - 2Peas Drama Queen and Gigi downloaded from the internet, Hand Stitching, Ribbon from Stash, lots of Inking, Sanding and Doodling....

Sunglasses at Night

Finally managed to finish the card that I needed to make...

and found these photos which I don't think have been blogged yet :)


Getting excited now about tomorrow....

Just for the Record

Today we are all supposed to upload our blog entries so that 'historians' can store them as a record of 'now'. Lol like anyone is going to be interested in what I had for tea today (it was homemade spag bol with garlic bread:)). Or what time I got up (It was around 7, Josh got up not long after, I got Jared up at 8 and Jase had been up since 4.30 lol). Or whether I watched any tele (yup) oh, ok Jared and I watched... Wait for it.... Charlie and Lola (again)and Big Cook Little Cook *yawns*. We also did some crafty sticking, had lunch played football in the garden and Jared napped. Josh went to school - it was school photo day, luckily I remembered 30 seconds before leaving and changed his jumper for his posh one with the school emblem. Jase went to work 'driving big lorries' as Josh would say and I was supposed to make a couple of cards... Might attempt one now before bed :)

I had a sneaky peak at the other entries here... Aren't bloggers boring :) I read somewhere that the more boring, the better, good job... :)

Ah and I noticed that Jane is back yay *waves frantically* I have missed you....

Jo x.

'Tell me Why'

Jared learnt a new word today. It is not a nice word and probably could be described as possibly the worst word a mother could hear her toddler utter. We have had 'bad' words in the past like 'bogie'- with added gesture towards nose region, 'stink' - points towards bum (sorry Mum! - bottom), 'yuck!' - normally directed at something I have slaved over for hours to make for tea and the worst to date -'waart' (Jared can't say fart (sorry Mum (again)))

Nope today beats all of those, hands down. It was the sort of word that makes grown Mum's weep...

It was... 'Why?'!

So... today went a something like this...

Me "Shall we put your shoes on Jared?"
Jared "Why?!

Me "Do you want a drink?"
Jared "Why?"

Me "Do you want ham in your sandwich?"
Jared "Why?"

Ad nauseum. Grrrr. Tomorrow will be better lol...

PS Don't forget to blog tomorrow....

Happy Birthday...

to Mum :) *waves*

Had a fabby meal at a v posh restaurant this evening, too stuffed to blog properly, will leave you with a piccie of the card that I made for Mum and framed very nicely in a box...




(Jase thinks I have been watching way too much Charlie and Lola with Jared lol!!!)

I can see clearly now...

... the rain has gone. After a distinctly poor start to the week and a changeable middle, things are now looking brighter... {{{{hugs}}}} to anyone who is having a bad time at the mo.

We went on Wednesday for tea at Mum and Dad's, stopping on the way at Nan and Grandad's...

The boys were their usual selves, altering clocks, playing with the Nan's 'chair that goes up in the air' and the bath chair, sneaking biscuits, and bouncing on beds....





They refused to pose with Nan and Grandad so here is one of them on their own....



Tea at Mum and Dad's was fab as usual. Jared managed to stick his head inside his pudding bowl to lick the rice pudding from the bottom and Josh announced to his Grandparents 'I'm going for a dump' *insert embarrassed smiley*.

Fun day today, Rachie came over to visit and we took Jared to Bonkers which is handily situated inside a 'craft village'. Expensive but worth a mooch :)

Josh came out of school having been made 'Star for the Day';



So he gets to have a bear called Nemo for the weekend and draw a picture of him in the book that accompanies it...

Computer says no

Four letter word...

Sheila (Bookworm) has written some fantastic instructions for making big letters to go on cards and the like on the CBC forum. I thought that I would share my attempt :)



Actually quite pleased with the result but have just had a moment of panic wondering if I should have added an umlaut but apparently it is ok without....

I hope the colours are ok... Borrowed Dad's old PC monitor *thanks* as ours went fizz-bang-wallop and am still trying to perfect the settings. May be a while....

Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can...

So we managed to get locked out of the house :( Put the door on the latch to say bye to Mum on Friday and Jared and Josh followed, one of them managing to knock the latch on the way out.

No problem... Back door is always open if we are in 'cept Mum had been and been super vigilant and locked it as she passed. Ok Jase will be home in a mo. 'cept keys are still in the front door (on the wrong side) so no key is gonna open that lock :(

Minutes passed. Cue anxious children, more Joshie than Jared but Jared joining in 'cos he can. Yay!! A brainwave (yes it hurt) Dining room window was open. Troops maneuvered and into position 'round the back. Josh primed for a superb Peter Parker impression. Or not.

After a while of gentle persuasion *you can do it* etc. We (Mum and I) finally managed to lift Josh rather unceremoniously through the window. Hurrah. Quick trip back round the front as Josh can't do the stair gate en route to the back door and we all had a cuppa to celebrate.... Sweet money from Nan for Josh 'cos he was a big brave boy and sweet money for Jared just because :) Money well spent in shop on Saturday.....

Tag you're it (again)

been tagged by Rhi ....

1. Do you have any middle names? Nope although I did use to make up a few when I was little, nothing exciting just things like Pollyanna - must have watched that movie at the time...

2. What's under your bed right now? Some offcuts of wooden flooring cos I hate to throw anything away, some of the boys toys that they have dumped there and probably some fluff.

3. Last time you laughed so much you cried? Hmmm not actually cried but recently Extras makes me chuckle and this *note* contains a few words of the rude variety....

4. What age were you when you first drank Alcohol? No idea I remember my sister and I sneaking sips... Probably quite young!

5. Porn Star Name (First pets name and your mother's Maiden name)? I'm with Rhi, I thought that it was street name so mine is .... Bobtail Coniston - more of a male name than mine :)

6. What's your desk top photo on the PC? It changes depending on which photo's I have taken recently normally one of the boys.

7. What did you have for breakfast? 2 cups of coffee Josh had ready brek and Jared had pancakes....

8.Music or TV? TV - watched the first episode of season 3 of Lost last week and learnt more than I did in the entire second season....

9. Worst outfit you have ever worn? Quite a few, Grolsch Bottle tops or luminous socks anyone?

10 Where do you feel most at peace? With children? Haha.

And so I tag... Jane , Lythan and Kathy enjoy :)

School Days

Josh was in the paper last week... They took piccies of all the little people starting school so here he is.... Thanks Dad for the scanned piccie :)






Oh and I *may* have a secret too... also *smug*

Busy

Have had really busy week (again) but finally think I have caught up with most of the things I had to do.... Currently waiting for the washing machine man to arrive with our brand new shiny machine *drums fingers* Thank you Mum for allowing us to use yours *waves*

Went to Bath yesterday to hand some bits in to the magazine and then went back to Mum and Dad's for lunch. At least that deadline has been met :) sneaky peeky....

Bath is definately not nice now, I used to frequent the city quite a lot, especially when I lived in Chippenham as it is not a very happening place lol. Bath was quite mingy, all the cool and eclectic shops have given way to a masse of phone shops and cheapo pound type stores - I do like pound land as they sell loads of bits to dissamble and crate crafty masterpieces with but these were just flled with cards and Crimbo deccies of the highest naffness. I think I even prefer Swindon for shopping. hmmm or maybe not!

Managed to pick up the latest copy of Papercraft Inspirations and it comes with a free Christmas Cards supplement - made all the better by having some of my cards contained inside :) - How big headed does that sound lol. I'm very pleased that they have chosen to use some of my cards :) They are even featured on the front and back cover of the mini mag!... The closest thing that I will ever get to being a cover star!

Christmas cards are featuring heavily in my crafty task list, made these little paper piecings from a pattern that I found in a vintage issue of Scrapbooks etc. - I discovered it in a charity shop for 10p ( I like bargains!). Mailed the magazine as it was so old to ask about copyright and apparently I can make them for 'personal use' so these will not be seeing the light of day on eBay but might make their way on to my cards this year :) Not 100% convinced about the peel offs as am not a fan but they are quick and easy....



Got an email to say I have made the top 20 in cardmaker of the year comp *cheers*

....and Jared said 'Jared' for the first time today. He is so funny, he couldn't say it and used to substitute 'Josh' Today's favorite words have still been 'tuddle mummy'and 'roooar'...

Sorry

Dear Blog,

I am sorry I have neglected you, I must try harder lol!

Ok so have not been on here much, not sure where last week went but we are now in a new week and a super shiny new month!

I have been a bit snowed under with crafty tasks, it didn't help that I suddenly decided to enter another comp so stupidly pulled an all nighter Thursday to try and get things done!I am actually quite pleased with the finished cards... It's just a shame that once again the Royal Mail have failed to deliver goods on time, as promised. So a phone call this morning to Royal Mail to complain. Lots. + a very groveling email to Practical Publishing.... Very nice lady at PP said that they will consider the cards *smiles*. Very rude man at Royal Mail, letter of complaint is done and dusted. Whether or not it actually gets there remains to be seen. They have not replied to my last one... Probably haven't got a chance but hey! You never know and *you've got to be in it to win it!*

So what else has happened? Our washing machine finally decided that it needed to go to the great home of white goods in sky ( this blog entry is soooo exciting...) So after a phone call to the insurance type people, a new one will be here later in the week. If the door was any bigger, I think the drum would have rolled out into the kitchen! At least the school and work uniforms are clean for the week and Jared promised me that he will not attract mess and dirt whilst I have to attempt handwashing.

So that's about it! Still got a million and three things to make, a magazine deadline looming and days have not yet miraculously been extended by 5 hours. May not be around much but I will leave you with a picture of the coconut that Josh chose from the supermarket... We have named him 'Roly Mo'